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Q: Many IT leaders understandably focus heavily on conversion and migration when preparing for new EHR implementations. Yet you’ve emphasized that legacy data archiving should receive equal attention from the outset. Why is this critical? 

Q: You’ve mentioned the importance of having a strong data governance team in place during migrations. What role does this team play and who should be involved? 

Q: You’ve seen migration projects where inadequate data mapping and testing created significant problems. What goes wrong when organizations don’t properly vet their data conversions, and how can they avoid these pitfalls? 

Q: What are your top pieces of advice for organizations evaluating migration partners? 

The Honesty Gap: Why 37% of Patients Lie to Their Doctor

1. Lifestyle habits (ex. diet, exercise, sleep) – 58%
2. State of mental health – 39%
3. Alcohol consumption – 34%
4. Drug consumption – 29%
5. Following a treatment plan – 27%

1. Fear of judgment – 57%
2. To avoid a lecture or argument – 56%
3. To keep something off medical records – 29%
4. Self-denial of an issue – 22%
5. Fear of insurance/cost implications – 14%

Why So Many Patients Ignore Medical Advice

1. Lifestyle guidelines – 40%
2. Medication changes – 32%
3. Getting a screening – 24%
4. Following up with a specialist – 18%
5. Cutting back on alcohol, tobacco, or drugs – 16%

Empathy & Warmth is the Top Motivator for Patient Honesty

1. Empathy/warm demeanor – 38%
2. Clear explanations of why they are asking a question – 25%
3. Less rushed appointments – 10%

1. Feeling like recommendations are personalized – 22%
2. Knowing recommendations are evidence-based – 19%
3. Explaining the consequences of not listening – 17%

The role of clinical documentation in healthcare.

The challenges of clinical document management.

• Ensuring security and regulatory compliance.
• Fragmented medical information located in different places.
• A lack of interoperability between different platforms and incompatible systems.
• Integrating a new document management system (DMS) with existing legacy systems within a healthcare organization can be complex and require significant effort.
• Systems that face scalability challenges when dealing with the increasing volume of data.
• Operational, workflow and cost issues.

Recent efforts in the evolution of medical record documentation focus on technology and integration. This includes:

• Converting paper forms, scans, and other unstructured content into digital formats.
• Connecting with EHR/EMR systems so clinicians can access external documents and embedding analytics directly into the EHRs.
• Centralizing all content related to a patient case or financial/administrative process to improve cross department collaboration.
• Using technology tools to monitor regulatory requirements for retention and overall compliance.
• Adopting generative AI (GenAI) to continue to transform documentation efforts.

The growing importance of EHR-integrated clinical documentation.

1. Faster reimbursement rates with fewer denials and reduced audit risk.
2. Improved clinical quality and safety to support better decision-making and patient outcomes.
3. Mitigated risk as strong documentation protects against liability and supports regulatory standards.
4. Reduced complexity and improved workflows with integrated documentation modules that work within the EHR.

• Extract clinical documents from legacy document management application (like Hyland OnBase or other).
• Migrate relevant documents into a new system (like Epic Gallery or other).
• Archive older or redundant documents to reduce storage costs while maintaining access and compliance. This allows the decommissioning of outdated applications and servers.

By: Michael Edmisten, Director of Client Experience and Support at Harmony Healthcare IT

The healthcare industry is increasingly reliant on data to drive decision-making, improve patient care, and streamline operations. Health data archiving has become a cornerstone of modern healthcare systems. However, an archive’s effectiveness can hinge on the technology itself and the quality and responsiveness of the daily technical support that underpins them.

One of the primary reasons a high-quality technical support team is essential in health data archiving is the need to ensure data integrity and protection.

Healthcare data is highly sensitive — containing personal and medical information that must be protected from unauthorized access and breaches. Responsive technical support teams are crucial in maintaining robust security protocols, promptly addressing vulnerabilities, and ensuring compliance with regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).

For many organizations security has become the top priority for support staff, who adhere to industry-leading standards when handling sensitive data. Teams must employ multiple security and privacy layers that are integrated into support processes to ensure robust protections at every step. Organizations must also commit to maintaining HITRUST compliance, which underscores dedication to safeguarding health information.

This rigorous approach not only protects patient data but also instills confidence in clients, knowing that their information is managed with the highest level of security and integrity.

Minimizing Downtime and Disruptions

In the healthcare sector, even minor disruptions can have significant consequences. Downtime in data archiving systems can delay access to critical patient information, potentially impacting patient care.

High-quality technical support ensures that any issues are resolved swiftly, minimizing downtime, and maintaining the continuity of care. This responsiveness is vital in an environment where every second counts.

When planning for scheduled maintenance or downtime, it is critical to ensure seamless coordination through both vendor and internal Change Advisory Board (CAB) processes. The commitment to transparency helps organizations prepare and minimizes any potential disruptions. To avoid unplanned downtime, organizations should also consider advanced system monitoring tools that enable detection and address issues before they escalate.

This proactive approach allows organizations to maintain continuous communication and swiftly react if corrective action is needed, ensuring the highest level of service reliability and client satisfaction.

Enhancing the User Experience

Healthcare professionals rely on data archiving systems to perform their duties efficiently. When these systems are user-friendly and well-supported, it enhances the overall user experience.

Responsive technical support teams play a key role in this by providing timely assistance, addressing user concerns, and ensuring that the systems are intuitive and easy to navigate. A positive user experience translates to higher productivity and better patient care.

The user experience extends far beyond the technical user interface (UI) though. It encompasses the personal interactions and relationships between hospitals, clinics and other operations and support teams. Every touchpoint matters, from the initial contact to ongoing support.

Clients need to feel heard, valued, and supported. This human element is integral to the approach by partners as they strive to provide not only effective technical solutions but also a positive, collaborative experience that fosters long-term partnerships and client satisfaction.

Let’s connect.

EHR replacements, new applications added from multiple mergers or acquisitions, increasing interoperability demands, security issues, cost containment pressures and regulatory compliance. Healthcare IT teams now face a complex environment and a digital transformation that has been decades in the making.

Data lifecycle management is not a one and done activity.

Consider that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can double or triple the number of applications within a healthcare enterprise environment. This leaves hospitals with hundreds (or even thousands) of current and legacy software systems that store patient information, billing, administrative records and for the hospital business itself.  With 6,093 hospitals in the U.S., that means there are millions of legacy software systems in play just at hospitals with data that needs a secure path forward. With data volumes tripling every three years and record retention rules spanning decades, a sustainable and evolving data lifecycle management plan is vital.

Data lifecycle management (DLM) refers to the comprehensive approach to managing data from creation to deletion.

The primary goal of DLM is to maximize the value of the data while ensuring the data is handled efficiently, securely and in compliance with regulations.

Healthcare DLM has five phases:

1. Data Generation – Includes organizing data from inside and outside the organization as well as new data entry from clinicians and other staff members within the organization.
2. Data Storage – As soon as there is new data, there needs to be a place for it to be securely stored, along with a backup and recovery plan.
3. Data Sharing and Usage – Following organizational compliance plans, the data should be equipped for use and sharing (interoperability) inside and outside the organization and with patients.
4. Data Archival – Any time there is a need to convert data from one system to another, there is the question of what to do with the data that is left behind and must be kept for years to come to meet retention requirements. Data that is not stored in the production applications but is needed for clinical care and compliance with record retention rules should be stored in an archive. With an integrated active archive, the data can be retrieved with a Single Sign-On from the active EHR.
5. Data Deletion – When data is no longer needed, it can be destroyed following the organization’s data destruction policies in accordance with HIPAA regulations.

Why is data lifecycle management important?

There are many reasons to get a handle on data lifecycle management. Managing costs, improving security posture, streamlining the number of applications in operation and creating more efficient workflows are some of the most pressing concerns.

Cost containment is an ongoing pressure point for healthcare providers of all sizes. Annual support costs for legacy applications alone can run as high as 57 percent of the IT budget. The other major concern is security. Legacy software ranks as a leading entry point for cyberattacks.

What steps can providers take to establish (or uplevel) a sustainable data lifecycle management program?

We have identified six steps to help guide your next steps in creating or refreshing your data lifecycle management approach.

1. Involve the Governance Team – Ensure you have a cross-functional group that works together regularly to develop (and update) a solid strategy, policies and plans to serve the organization. Governance teams should represent compliance, legal, business operations and technical teams. There also should be C-suite and senior management included as part of a Data Governance Council to help set overall direction and policies. Check out our guidance for the seven steps to implement strong data governance for legacy data.
2. Update the Inventory – It is imperative to know what applications exist including details about their database size, server location, maintenance cost, date of retirement, etc. This tool can help. There also may be expanded inventory requirements from the newly proposed updates to the HIPAA Security Rule.
3. Revisit the Legacy Data Management Strategy – This involves application rationalization and prioritizing the decommissioning of outdated legacy applications. It may also involve making changes to the type of long-term storage option for certain data types.
4. Review Storage Options – More than 7 out of 10 CIOs from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) reported their organizations have a data archive in place. That same number reported they have data archiving projects on their to-do lists. About 76 percent of hospitals and health systems have legacy software footprints that make up one-fifth (20 percent) of their technology assets. There are options for long-term data storage that primarily are based on how often and why the legacy data will need to be accessed. This includes:
   1. Active Archiving is for data that the organization needs on a regular basis. The active archive offers numerous features and equips users with an easy-to-use interface, workflows, view/print/fax capabilities and Single Sign-On from the go-forward EHR, along with interoperability options. Active archiving is available for clinical, financial and operational records.
   2. Warm Storage is ideal for securely storing business-critical data that needs occasional access, with a limited interface for basic actions like file upload, download, and delete, with metadata tagging and retention rules for organization.
   3. Cold Data Storage works best for the compliant, long-term storage of raw source data that is not expected to be accessed and doesn’t require a user interface. It minimizes storage costs while allowing a technical resource to receive access to data if needed.
5. Prepare for Future Access and Release of Information. Health IT solutions need to continually evolve to gather, store and share more information. Streamlining the application portfolio is an ongoing process that will help organizations stay nimble and equipped to securely store and release the data while employing the most efficient solutions.
6. Integrate for Interoperability. Setting up the organization’s health IT for interoperability success involves a commitment to working with solutions that can integrate and deliver. The ONC defines four areas of EMR technology that play a vital role in creating an interoperable health IT environment.

Special Consideration: Include A/R and business applications in data lifecycle management planning.

While clinical EHR data may be the headline for a strong long-term data management program, it is not the whole story. It is important to take stock of the entire IT portfolio and look beyond the clinical EHRs within your organization. There can be financial, business and other operational data housed in a variety of applications that need a secure, long-term plan.

For example, data archiving is a strong solution to manage legacy accounts receivable applications. HealthData AR Manager^® provides comprehensive management of collections for legacy A/R Records Wind Down. This helps reduce the cost of legacy system support, ensures record retention and compliance, enables account resolution during system transition and helps fortify the organization’s defense against cybersecurity threats as legacy applications can be decommissioned.

The six benefits of a solid data lifecycle management program

Implementing best practices for sustainable and forward-thinking, long-term data management offers business value in many areas of the operation. This includes:

1. Consolidated data. A primary benefit of a robust data management program is efficient data organization that contributes to improved patient care.
2. Improved security posture. Legacy and unsupported software ranks a bad practice according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). A streamlined application portfolio and consolidated data storage reduces risk to ePHI and the organization. Here are a few security questions to ask any future archiving partner.
3. Cost savings. In a survey of CIOs, 58 percent reported decommissioning legacy applications provides cost savings. In most cases ROI from moving legacy financial, clinical and business applications is achieved within 18-24 months.
4. Having a solid legacy data management program in place supports compliance with HIPAA, the 21st Century Cures Act and other compliance requirements.
5. Improved workflows. With HealthData Archiver^® accessible with Single Sign-On from the active EHR, workflows are improved. A new Legacy Record Indicator signals if there are historical records within the archive to further improve efficiency.
6. Better data quality and utilization. Industry studies show that organizations with strong data governance frameworks report 20-40 percent higher data quality and 30-50 percent better data utilization.

Harmony Healthcare IT supports healthcare providers of all shapes and sizes with solid, sustainable data lifecycle management solutions.

Our HealthData Platform^™ offers secure solutions for the management of protected health information with storage, workflows, transactions and interoperability capabilities. Our team offers deep and broad experience with more than 700 unique software applications.

Wherever you are on your lifecycle data management journey, we can help.

Let’s connect.